What Is A Good Topic For A Rhetorical Analysis Essay: 15 Great Examples

A rhetorical analysis essay is a quite different type of essay then most students usually write. You don’t give your opinion at all in this type but you analyze how well the author did at trying to get his opinion across. Usually speeches, stories, and books are the object of this type of essay. The authors of these types of articles use different means to get their point across. It is your job to analyze what methods he used and how well he did it. The best essays come from the best topics. Here is a list of 15 great topics for a rhetorical analysis essay.

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum”

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor speech

Shuttle ''Challenger'' Disaster Address” of Ronald Reagan

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech

Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech

William Faulkner’s Nobel Peace Prize speech

Dwight Eisenhower’s speech “Atoms for Peace”

Richard Nixon’s “I Am Not a Crook” speech

Hamlet’s monologue where he says “to be or not to be”

John F. Kennedy’s 1963 speech in West Berlin

Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream”

Rhetorical Analysis of The Gettysburg Address

Rhetorical Analysis of The Shawshank Redemption

Rhetorical Analysis of President Obama's Inauguration Speech

Woodrow Wilson's War Address to Congress

In addition to analyzing the author’s goals in these pieces, you also need to look at his techniques or tools and how effective he used them. You need to tell your audience if you think the author was successful in what he was trying to do. There are three ways of trying to get the audience to agree with what the author was trying to say.

Ethical appeal-

People who use their position in life to influence people

Pathetic appeal-

Tries to prey on the emotions of the audience to get them to agree

Logical appeal-

Tries to appeal to the audience’s logical side to get them to agree with the author

Many of these pieces above are unforgettable. They are famous because of the way they affected the audience and how they influenced society. If you try out this agency (insert your website here) you can find many more examples to choose from. In, rhetorical analysis essays you get the chance to analyze some of the world’s most famous people. Pay attention to what they say and how they say it. We can all learn from them and the way they communicate with people.